sport

McGann was not always as confident as her persona on TikTok suggests and credits Higgins for helping her come out of her shell.

The two first met at an Ireland sevens camp in Dublin at 16 and have stayed friends during their rise from playing for the sevens at the Olympics in 2024 to representing the 15s at a World Cup last year and various editions of the Six Nations.

“The first time I met Anna was a sevens camp at DCU [Dublin City University], there was a girl the side of the pitch not saying much. She didn’t speak really until our first Dubai Invitational and then you were like ‘who is this?'” Higgins joked.

“I was so shy. I think Eve and the girls were so good and a reason as to why I came out of my shell and was so comfortable and that didn’t happen until I was 21-22,” McGann explained.

“They helped shape me into the person I am and be more comfortable to be myself.”

Despite their closeness, Higgins says the two have never had a falling out, even though they share a room together during Ireland camps.

“Eve and I roomed together for five weeks at the World Cup and somehow we’re not sick of each other,” McGann said.

“We would know if we need to give each other space. That’s the best thing we have. We’ve known each other so long and have grown,” Higgins added.

As mentioned, both players made the transition from sevens to 15s rugby alongside countless others in Scott Bemand’s current squad.

Higgins believes that is the case for so many because it was the only real pathway available for players of her generation to play in a professional environment.

“It’s mostly because there’s not provincial teams for women. Sevens was an opportunity for women’s rugby players to train every week.

“Thankfully now there’s a women’s programme, so there’s 15s and sevens but at the time only seven players were contracted to train week in week out. That was the pathway for us to play semi-professional rugby.”

Draw for the 24-team 2027 AFC Asian Cup, originally set for Saturday, moved to May 9.

The draw for the 2027 ⁠Asian Cup ⁠in Saudi Arabia has been rescheduled for May 9 in Riyadh as the ⁠United States-Israel war on Iran disrupts regional sporting events.

The draw, originally scheduled for last Saturday, will be held at the historic At-Turaif District in Diriyah. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said ⁠on Wednesday that the postponement was ‌made to ensure the full participation of all key stakeholders and member associations.

A number of sporting events across the region have been postponed or cancelled due to the war, which began on February 28.

Saudi Arabia is set to ⁠host the 24-team, quadrennial continental championship for the first time from January 7 to February 5. With 23 of the ⁠24 teams already confirmed, the draw will divide the qualified ⁠nations into six groups of ⁠four.

The final qualification place will be decided on June 4 when Lebanon face Yemen in a playoff.

Defending champions ‌Qatar have already secured their place at the finals along with four-time winners Japan and fellow ‌World ‌Cup qualifiers South Korea, Iran, Jordan, Australia and Uzbekistan.

Anyone who has jumped out of a plane with a parachute deserves respect, but to do it 36 times, that’s worthy of a salute.

Saul Pacheco, who turns 88 in November, is sitting in a lawn chair at the Arcadia Invitational with his friends, the starters dressed in red suits who fire pistols to begin races.

That’s when he mentions how he was in the 82nd Airborne Division and jumping out of planes in the 1960s after graduating from Wilmington Banning High and UCLA.

“I was a jump master who became in charge of the parachute troopers,” he said.

Then he talks about becoming a teacher and wanting to return to his alma mater, Banning, which had no openings, so he ends up at rival Carson and coaching the offensive line for Hall of Fame coach Gene Vollnogle for more than two decades. Vollnogle was football coach from 1963 to 1990, winning eight City titles.

Pacheco also became a track starter in 1977. He was already well trained to fire a pistol. It was learning all the rules required in track and field that needed to be mastered.

He apparently did just that, because he’s been at it for 49 years and plans to retire as a track starter this spring. For 25 years, he was a starter for the Arcadia Invitational. Then he became the meet referee to settle any disputes. The respect he has earned can be seen in the way other starters appreciate him for helping them learn the ropes.

He’ll be inducted into the Carson Hall of Fame this fall for his contributions as a coach and athletic director.

His story is pretty amazing. He was one of 13 children. His parents apparently wanted enough siblings to form a football team. His father was a carpenter helping build minesweepers at Terminal Island for the Navy. His mother stayed home and took care of everyone. The first seven kids born were boys. He was No. 5. Imagine the competition for food at dinner time.

“Everbody came in to eat at different times,” Pacheco said. “My mother did a great job having stuff ready.”

But what about 13 children together for Thanksgiving?

“We had a lot of laughs. We all got along.”

Five of the brothers are still alive, including a 90-year-old. All three sisters are alive. One of his brothers, Henry, was football coach at San Pedro for 12 years. Henry was drafted and ended up in the Vietnam War, where environmental issues might have led to the illness, lymphocytic leukemia, that took his life in 1991.

Two of his brothers worked for the LAPD. Two other brothers became firefighters. He has a grandson who’s a deputy sheriff in Riverside.

Pacheco has worked five state track championships and numerous City Section championships.

Like an umpire in football who calls a holding penalty, the only time anyone notices a starter in track is when there’s a false start.

“If there’s a false start, someone complains,” he said.

So why spend 49 years as a track starter?

“The fun part is watching all the athletes compete and being around all the other officials,” he said. “The officials are tremendous and dedicated trying to do a good job.”

All this came out by just happening to stop by and say hello to the starters who are always pleasant and enjoy talking. Unless you ask a question, you’ll never find out about someone’s background.

So why wasn’t Pacheco wearing a red suit like the rest of his friends at Arcadia?

“I brought it just in case,” he said. “I was an alternate.”

Pacheco is always prepared, whether jumping out of planes or teaching life lessons to football players.

If anyone deserves a salute, it’s Saul Pacheco.

The Dodgers are too good, and too rich. If the owners of other major league teams ultimately deem that combination so objectionable that they shut down the sport this winter because of it, they will risk a rupture in one of the greatest fan bases in American sports history.

The four million tickets the Dodgers sold last season tells one part of the story. Here is an arguably better one: For decades, the Dodgers and Lakers have dominated Los Angeles sports and left every other team far behind in popularity.

For now, after back-to-back World Series championships, the Dodgers have left even the Lakers far behind in popularity, and every other team in town even further behind.

In a Loyola Marymount survey asking Los Angeles County residents to identify their favorite among the 12 pro sports teams within the local media market, nearly half picked the Dodgers.

The Dodgers’ lead over the Lakers — 43% to 28% — represented the largest gap between the teams in the nine editions of the survey, first conducted in 2014 by the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles.

The Rams ranked third, at 7%, followed by the Kings at 5% and the Angels at 4%.

The two women’s teams — Angel City FC and the Sparks — tied for last, each with less than 1% of the vote. Even when the study separated votes by gender, the two women’s teams got less than 1% of the vote from women.

As recently as 2018, five teams beyond the Dodgers and Lakers — the Angels, Clippers, Galaxy, Kings and Rams — attracted at least 4% of the vote. In this year’s survey, only the Rams did.

“I’m a big Rams fan,” said Fernando Guerra, the center’s director, “and I still put the Dodgers first.

“I love all these teams. But, when you have to choose one, it’s the Dodgers.”

Dodgers president Stan Kasten pointed to the popularity and excellence of the players, the cherished ballpark and the generational fan support as factors contributing to the top ranking.

“If you have a lot of good elements but you don’t win, you’re not going to be as high,” Kasten said. “And, if you win but you don’t have the other elements, you’re not going to be as high.

“I think, right now, we’re as close as you can be to clicking on all cylinders.”

Beyond the winning, Guerra cited Shohei Ohtani as a driving force behind the Dodgers’ popularity, and not just as a tourist attraction, merchandise driver, and the foremost product endorser in sports.

In 2018, Ohtani’s debut season with the Angels, 8% of fans that identified themselves as Asian picked the Angels as their favorite team and 34% picked the Dodgers — a terrific showing for the Angels, since the study polls residents in L.A. County, not Orange County.

That demographic this year: 4% picked the Angels, 47% picked the Dodgers.

In their 10 years since returning to Los Angeles, the Rams have made seven playoff appearances and two Super Bowl appearances, winning one. All that, and a half-century in their previous run in L.A., and their membership in the most popular sports league in America, and the best they could do was 7%.

“It’s just tough to break the Lakers’ and Dodgers’ hold,” Guerra said. “It’s not like we don’t love the Rams or the others. It’s just not your top priority.”

The Lakers and Dodgers have combined to win 20 championships in Los Angeles. The other 10 teams that call this market home have combined to win 16.

In the 13 seasons since Mark Walter and Co. bought the Dodgers, the team has won 12 division titles, made five World Series appearances, and won three championships. In the same time, the Lakers have won three division titles, advanced past the first round of the playoffs twice, and won one championship.

Walter bought a controlling interest in the Lakers last year. He has installed Lon Rosen, formerly the Dodgers’ executive vice president and chief marketing officer, as the Lakers’ president of business operations.

“When the Lakers are winning a lot of championships, they’re No. 1,” Rosen said. “When the Dodgers are, they’re No. 1.

“It’s a good position to be in, since we control both teams, and both teams are highly successful.”

In this moment, the Dodgers are highly successful.

“The Lakers and Dodgers are going to be neck and neck very soon,” Rosen said. “The Lakers will 100% be champions again soon.”

The Dodgers do not concede the days of neck and neck will return. Kasten, remember, said the Dodgers were as close as they could be to clicking on all cylinders.

“We don’t take that for granted,” he said. “We know we can do even better.”

As left-hander Alex Vesia emerged from the Dodgers bullpen, heard the electric guitar riff of Seether’s “Gasoline,” and felt his adrenaline spike with the roar of the crowd, he knew 27 of those cheering fans had helped him and wife Kayla through a devastating loss just months prior.

He and Kayla had chosen the Dodgers’ game against the Mets on Tuesday, Healthcare appreciation night at Dodger Stadium, to celebrate the hands-on staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center who had cared for them last October, through the death of their newborn daughter Sterling Sol.

He’d spotted their suite by shirts Kayla had customized for the group, bearing the initials SV with a heart, and signed by Alex.

“Today was the first time I’ve seen pretty much all of them since everything,” Alex Vesia said after earning the save in the Dodgers’ 2-1 win Tuesday. “So it was very special, very emotional. … I couldn’t have written it any better.”

Vesia authored the ending to what manager Dave Roberts called an “old school” pitcher’s duel. Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Mets starter each yielded only one run apiece, both in the first inning.

Yamamoto retired 20 straight after surrendering a leadoff home run to Francisco Lindor. And he came back out in the eighth, with right-hander Blake Treinen and Vesia preparing for the call.

When Yamamoto allowed back-to-back two-out singles, just his third and fourth hits allowed, Roberts brought in Treinen to face Luis Robert Jr. Treinen struck out Robert on a sweeper that caught the bottom of the strike zone and withstood an ABS challenge.

“Not having [closer Edwin Díaz] available, I felt very confident to use Blake to get out of that inning, to get Robert,” Roberts said, “and to have Vesia take on some righties in a close situation.”

Díaz hadn’t pitched since last Friday, when he didn’t feel quite right and his velocity dropped during a blown save. Though he insisted over the weekend that he felt good physically, the Dodgers proceeded with caution.

Because of the time off, Roberts said, the training and coaching staff wanted Díaz to throw a bullpen Tuesday before returning to game action. As long as he responds well, Roberts said, Díaz will be “ready to go” Wednesday in the series finale.

Kyle Tucker singles in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning Tuesday.

(Ronaldo Bolanos / Los Angeles Times)

On Tuesday, a clutch swing from Kyle Tucker in the bottom of the eighth created a save situation with Díaz down.

With runners on first and second, Tucker fell behind in the count against Mets left-handed reliever Brooks Raley. Then, shaking off his slow offensive start to the season, Tucker sent a 1-and-2 cutter into shallow left field.

“He’s going through it right now,” Roberts said. “But for him to stick his nose in there against Raley and find a way … to just flare a ball to get a game-winning hit, he helped us win a baseball game.”

Then it was Vesia’s time.

The heart of the order was coming up for the Mets: Jorge Polanco, Bo Bichette and Francisco Alvarez.

“Doc trusting me to get those three hitters out, those are no-joke hitters right there,” Vesia said. “So I definitely knew I needed to be on my game.”

A top-rail fastball got him a called first strike against Polanco. Then Vesia, who mostly throws fastballs and sliders, got Polanco to whiff on an outside changeup.

“I think even Will [Smith] and I surprised each other with the changeup that I threw,” Vesia said.

He went above the zone with a fastball, and Polanco chased it to complete a three-pitch strikeout.

Vesia then only needed four pitches to strike out Bichette on a slider in the dirt. Three straight sliders to Alvarez finished the job.

Vesia hopped and fist-pumped as the Dodgers (13-4) formed their handshake line. He met SportsNet LA’s Kirsten Watson outside of the dugout for the on-field interview and choked back tears after waving to the Cedars-Sinai suite.

“That’s what I do it for, man,” he said later in the clubhouse. “I wear my heart on my sleeve when I’m out there. So I was pretty fired up to be put in that spot.”

HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL, SOFTBALL SCORES

Tuesday’s Results

BASEBALL

CITY SECTION
Collins Family 14, Animo Venice 6
Granada Hills 4, Cleveland 0

SOUTHERN SECTION
AAE 10, Lucerne Valley 1
Adelanto 9, Silverado 6
Alemany 10, Chaminade 6
Alhambra 11, San Gabriel 1
Aliso Niguel 4, Capistrano Valley 3
Anaheim 14, Saddleback 1
Animo Leadership 5, Ambassador 3
Anza Hamilton 8, United Christian Academy 7
Artesia 21, Whitney 0
Banning 11, Desert Mirage 5
Beckman 5, Mission Viejo 2
Bethel Christian 18, Grove School 1
Bishop Montgomery 7, St. Monica 0
Bloomington 18, Eisenhower 4
Burbank Burroughs 6, Arcadia 3
Cajon 1, Redlands East Valley 0
Calvary Baptist 11, Cornerstone Christian 1
Cantwell-Sacred Heart 10, Rosemead 9
Cerritos Valley Christian 6, Whittier Christian 4
Chaffey 3, Montclair 2
Chaparral 8, Murrieta Valley 4
Chino 12, Diamond Ranch 0
CIMSA 15, Victor Valley Christian 0
Citrus Valley 8, Redlands 0
Colton 6, Arroyo Valley 1
Corona del Mar 3, Los Alamitos 2
Costa Mesa 4, Ocean View 3
Crossroads 5, Windward 3
Culver City 14, Compton Centennial 2
Cypress 5, El Dorado 0
Don Lugo 15, Ontario 0
Edison 8, Marina 6
Elsinore 15, San Jacinto 2
El Toro 6, San Juan Hills 4
Esperanza 7, Anaheim Canyon 2
Flintridge Prep 14, Rio Hondo Prep 2
Fontana 13, Rim of the World 3
Foothill Tech 2, Grace 1
Garden Grove 1, Placentia Valencia 0
Garden Grove Santiago 10, Western 9
Granite Hills 7, Victor Valley 1
Harvard-Westlake 8, Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 0
Hemet 8, Riverside North 2
Heritage Christian 9, Vasquez 6
Huntington Beach 16, Fountain Valley 4
Jurupa Hills 3, Carter 2
La Canada 7, Temple City 0
Laguna Hills 3, Katella 0
La Habra 3, El Modena 2
La Mirada 3, Warren 2
Lawndale 12, Inglewood 2
Leuzinger 9, Hawthorne 0
Loara 6, Century 2
Los Altos 4, San Dimas 0
Los Amigos 19, Rancho Alamitos 2
Los Osos 8, Chino Hills 7
Magnolia 15, Santa Ana Valley 0
Maranatha 8, Village Christian 0
Mary Star of the Sea 16, St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 1
Mayfair 12, Lynwood 0
Milken 10, de Toledo 0
Montebello 15, Bell Gardens 1
Muir 12, Hoover 1
Newbury Park 7, Agoura 3
Norwalk 22, Dominguez 3
Orange 16, Bolsa Grande 1
Orange Lutheran 8, JSerra 3
Oxford Academy 11, Glenn 5
Paraclete 11, Bosco Tech 0
Paramount 15, Firebaugh 0
Pasadena 11, Glendale 0
Pasadena Poly 3, Chadwick 2
Rialto 2, Kaiser 1
Rio Mesa 4, Buena 2
Riverside Prep 11, Trinity Classical Academy 4
Salesian 16, Verbum Dei 1
San Marcos 3, Oxnard 2
San Marino 13, South Pasadena 4
Santa Fe 8, Buena Park 2
Santa Monica 6, Beverly Hills 2
Savanna 6, Estancia 1
Schurr 7, Mark Keppel 3
Sierra Canyon 4, St. Francis 1
Silver Valley 9, ACE 8
South Hills 17, Colony 0
Southlands Christian 11, Pomona 5
St. John Bosco 5, Santa Margarita 1
Summit 10, Grand Terrace 0
Tahquitz 8, Moreno Valley 5
Temecula Prep 19, California Military 2
Temecula Valley 5, Great Oak 3
Thacher 11, Cate 7
Thousand Oaks 15, Oaks Christian 10
Torrance 10, Long Beach Wilson 3
Trabuco Hills 3, Dana Hills 2
Tustin 5, Segerstrom 0
Ventura 4, Oxnard Pacifica 3
Villanova Prep 8, Santa Clara 1
Villa Park 2, Santa Ana Foothill 1
Vista Murrieta 14, Murrieta Mesa 6
Westlake 2, Calabasas 0
West Valley 4, Temescal Canyon 2
Westview 4, Fallbrook 2
Yucaipa 3, Beaumont 1
YULA 7, Buckley 0

INTERSECTIONAL
Bishop Union 13, California City 12
Boron 17, Frazier Mountain 7
California Lutheran 18, Sherman Indian 17
Immanuel Christian 22, Trona 7
Kern Valley 6, Rosamond 2
Lone Pine 18, Mojave 1

SOFTBALL

CITY SECTION
Animo Robinson 14, LAAAE 2
CNDLC 20, Smidt Tech 18
Triumph Charter 17, Discovery 4

SOUTHERN SECTION
Agoura 5, Newbury Park 4
Aliso Niguel 5, Capistrano Valley 1
Alta Loma 17, Colony 6
Aquinas 4, Ontario Christian 0
Archer 11, Brentwood 1
Artesia 3, Pioneer 2
Big Bear 23, Lucerne Valley 0
Burbank 21, Pasadena 3
Burbank Burroughs 21, Hoover 0
Cajon 15, Redlands 4
California 5, El Rancho 0
Cathedral City 23, Desert Hot Springs 0
Cerritos 21, Glenn 1
Chaffey 24, Montclair 2
Chaminade 12, Harvard-Westlake 2
Chino 14, Diamond Ranch 6
Citrus Hill 17, Bethel Christian 14
Citrus Valley 7, Beaumont 6
Colton 16, Kaiser 6
Corona del Mar 26, Estancia 1
Crean Lutheran 9, Troy 2
Crescenta Valley 18, Glendale 0
CSDR 23, La Sierra Academy 14
Culver City 21, Compton Centennial 0
Don Lugo 12, Ontario 2
Eisenhower 20, San Gorgonio 7
El Dorado 4, Sonora 1
Elsinore 14, Tahquitz 1
Etiwanda 11, Chino Hills 9
Faith Baptist 14, Desert Christian 0
Fillmore 14, Carpinteria 0
Fontana 18, Rim of the World 2
Gahr 6, Mayfair 3
Garden Grove Pacifica 4, Cypress 3
Grand Terrace 5, Jurupa Hills 4
Granite Hills 13, Victor Valley 3
Great Oak 16, Chaparral 5
Hart 14, Canyon Country Canyon 1
Heritage Christian 23, Immaculate Heart 4
Highland 10, Knight 0
HMSA 14, Compton Early College 3
Huntington Beach 5, Edison 0
Indio 21, Yucca Valley 0
Irvine 15, Portola 0
Irvine University 8, Woodbridge 2
JSerra 10, Mater Dei 1
Katella 13, Westminster 2
La Habra 5, Anaheim Canyon 2
Lakewood St. Joseph 13, Bishop Montgomery 1
Lancaster 6, Eastside 5
La Salle 17, St. Anthony 0
Leuzinger 10, Hawthorne 9
Linfield Christian 18, Woodcrest Christian 6
Littlerock 23, Antelope Valley 4
Long Beach Poly 10, Lakewood 6
Long Beach Wilson 18, Long Beach Jordan 0
Los Alamitos 11, Fountain Valley 2
Marina 15, Newport Harbor 0
Mayfield 12, Westridge 1
Monrovia 8, South Pasadena 0
Moorpark 9, Oak Park 3
Muir 5, Arcadia 4
Norwalk 12, Firebaugh 2
Oaks Christian 6, Thousand Oaks 4
Orange Lutheran 13, Santa Margarita 0
Palos Verdes 9, Millikan 2
Paraclete 17, Bishop Amat 2
Paramount 19, Dominguez 0
Quartz Hill 10, Palmdale 0
Ramona Convent 5, Cantwell-Sacred Heart 3
Rancho Cucamonga 2, Los Osos 1
Rialto 15, Arroyo Valley 5
Riverside North 14, Liberty 5
Riverside Notre Dame 21, Bloomington 14
Rosary Academy 11, Northwood 3
San Clemente 6, Mission Viejo 1
San Jacinto Valley Academy 29, Nuview Bridge 6
San Juan Hills 4, Beckman 0
San Marcos 7, Oxnard 6
Santa Ana Foothill 7, Sunny Hills 2
Sante Fe 2, La Serna 1
Santa Paula 16, Hueneme 1
Saugus 10, Castaic 2
Schurr 13, Mark Keppel 0
Sherman Oaks Notre Dame 14, Louisville 2
Silverado 9, Adelanto 8
South Hills 18, San Dimas 5
St. Bonaventure 23, Foothill Tech 4
St. Monica 11, Bishop Conaty-Loretto 4
St. Paul 13, Villa Park 2
St. Pius X-St. Matthias Academy 15, St. Bernard 3
Temecula Prep 22, California Military 1
Temescal Canyon 12, West Valley 0
Temple City 18, Blair 0
Trabuco Hills 7, Dana Hills 5
Twentynine Palms 19, Coachella Valley 9
United Christian Academy 12, California Lutheran 0
Ventura 16, Oxnard Pacifica 2
Viewpoint 13, Oakwood 0
Village Christian 2, Maranatha 0
Vista Murrieta 14, Murrieta Valley 13
Warren 5, La Mirada 1
Western Christian 14, Southlands Christian 4
Westlake 16, Calabasas 0
West Ranch 28, Golden Valley 1
West Torrance 10, Torrance 7
Whittier Christian 6, Cerritos Valley Christin 3
Yorba Linda 11, Brea Olinda 9
Yucaipa 7, Redlands East Valley 1

INTERSECTIONAL
Alemany 3, Granada Hills Kennedy 1
Anza Hamilton 10, Sherman Indian 1
Camarillo 11, Birmingham 1
El Segundo 4, San Pedro 3

Javokhir Sindarov wins the Candidates Tournament with ⁠a round ⁠to spare and will face India’s Gukesh next.

Uzbek grandmaster Javokhir Sindarov has clinched victory in the chess Candidates Tournament with ⁠a round ⁠to spare, drawing with Dutchman Anish Giri to set up a World Championship match against India’s Gukesh Dommaraju.

The 20-year-old stormed ⁠through the event in Cyprus on Tuesday, winning six of his 13 games and losing none in a dominant performance never seen at the Candidates.

Sindarov moved to ⁠9.5 points, two clear of second-placed Giri on 7.5, after the Dutchman failed to convert a winning position against China’s Wei Yi in the previous round.

“It was the hardest week in my life. I even slept really bad the last ‌few days. I am very happy to finish this tournament with a win,” Sindarov said after his win.

The tournament had been seen as a possible last opportunity for the old guard to mount another challenge for the world title, but Americans Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura never seriously threatened.

Gukesh won the title in 2024, defeating China’s Ding Liren in the 14th and ⁠final game of their match. Ding had himself become ⁠champion by beating Ian Nepomniachtchi after Magnus Carlsen, the five-times champion who remains world number one, relinquished the crown, citing a lack of motivation.

“I do not want to think a lot ⁠about the upcoming World Championship match right now. I know it will be a very hard match,” Sindarov said.

“Gukesh ⁠has an experience of playing at this level. ⁠But I have a very good team. I have a lot to work on, and I will work a lot for this and take my chances.”

While Sindarov’s breakthrough and the broader rise ‌of a younger generation are likely to prompt new speculation about a Carlsen comeback, the Norwegian has said he has no intention of returning to ‌the ‌classical World Championship cycle.

A precise date and a venue for the World Championship match have yet to be announced.

Jake DeBrusk scored his second goal of the game in overtime and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Kings 4-3 on Tuesday night.

DeBrusk collected a pass from center Elias Pettersson and tapped a shot in to seal the victory 2:58 into the extra period.

Defenseman Elias Pettersson opened the scoring for the Canucks, and DeBrusk and Zeev Buium added goals in the second period. Elias Pettersson had two assists. The Canucks won their third straight game for the first time since Dec. 14-20, when they took four straight road victories.

Kevin Lankinen stopped 31 of the 34 shots he faced as Vancouver improved to 9-27-5 on home ice this season.

Quinton Byfield and Alex Laferriere each had a goal and an assist for the Kings. Adrian Kempe scored his 36th of the season and Darcy Kuemper made 21 saves.

DeBrusk scored for a third straight game. His three goals across the stretch came on the power play. The 29-year-old winger has scored 19 of his 23 goals with the man advantage this season.

Anze Kopitar played his final game at Rogers Arena and registered an assist on Kempe’s second-period goal. He has 864 assists, all with L.A. That ranks third among active players with a single franchise, trailing only the Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin (874) and Sidney Crosby (1,107).

The Kings have secured a playoff berth and remain in the Western Conference’s second wild-card spot with one game remaining.

The Kings had their five-game winning streak halted, but they did earn a point for the eighth straight game (6-0-2).

Hollywood duo Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac (who recently changed his name from Rob McElhenney) have made their ambitions clear ever since their first interview as owners in 2021.

A member of the media asked the actors what their perfect ending would be? Reynolds responded: “We’d be lying if it wasn’t the Premier League.

So far, so good for the north Wales outfit. They’re one promotion away from the top flight and their latest accounts reveal a record turnover of £33.3m in the process. But was it ever really the aim to make it four promotions in a row?

At the start of their first season back in the second tier of English football since 1982, Wrexham chief executive Michael Williamson told the Telegraph, external that his aims for the season were Championship survival, a mid-table finish and to be competitive.

He proposed this to Reynolds and Mac, who immediately responded by asking what it would take to reach the top two.

Williamson went on to say that after discussions between the club’s hierarchy, they landed on: “Let’s be competitive and see where we end up.”

“If we can find ourselves in that position towards the back end of the season, I give us a very good shot of being in the play-offs. And then, ultimately, if we’re in the play-offs, I give us a very good shot of getting promoted just because of who we are and what we are and the DNA, the resilience and what it means to this town and for the squad,” explained Williamson.

The CEO also said that should promotion not be achieved this time, then that was OK too.

Adam Peaty puts on an “astonishing” performance in the men’s 100m breaststroke final, with a time of 58.97 seconds at the Acquatics Great British Swimming Championships.

READ MORE: Peaty wins British 100m title as he looks to LA

Available to UK users only.

Reaching his father’s time will be hugely challenging – some might say impossible.

“Most people who know swimming will be like, ‘he has no chance’,” Adam says. “But I want to try.”

But Adam says the 12 months ahead are about more than strokes, leg kicks, minutes and seconds.

Having not swam seriously since he was 18, he only got back into the sport after his father’s death to “feel connected to him” as he grieved.

Adam hopes to travel to some of the pools his father swam in, including in Sri Lanka – where David was born to Scottish parents, in Scotland itself, Miami and even Montreal.

He will also raise money for Sports Aid, who help support youngsters with the expense that come with chasing sporting dreams, and take advice from his dad’s former team-mates.

“Doing this challenge has allowed me to go back through his life,” Adam says.

“My dad retired at 22, long before I came along, so it’s a part of his life that I didn’t necessarily know that much about.

“I’m hoping I’ve got a lot of his swimming genes, so we’ll see as the year unfolds.

“I want this story to demonstrate how amazing swimmers are, how hard this sport is and how much effort, time and work these guys and girls put in to get to where they are.

“And I want to demonstrate how good my dad was.”

Former England midfielder Jonjo Shelvey has retired from playing and will take over as manager of third-tier United Arab Emirates side Arabian Falcons FC.

The 34-year-old had been playing for the Dubai club, who were formed in 2023, since September – alongside ex-Manchester United midfielder Ravel Morrison.

Former Crystal Palace midfielder Jason Puncheon is the club’s co-owner and head of football operations.

Shelvey, who played for Liverpool and Newcastle among others, made headlines earlier this season when he told BBC Sport: “I don’t want my children growing up in England any more.

“We’re very lucky that we lived in a nice part of the UK but where I’m from, originally, you can’t have nice things in my opinion.”

A documentary will follow Shelvey trying to lead Arabian Falcons to promotion in the final five games of the season.

He said: “My ambition is to climb to the very top of management and this is the perfect project to prove myself and what I’m capable of.”

Shelvey started his playing career at Charlton Athletic and played in the top flight for Liverpool, Swansea, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest.

He also featured for Blackpool, on loan, Turkish sides Caykur Rizespor and Eyupspor and briefly Burnley before moving to the UAE.

Shelvey won six caps for England, in 2012 and 2016 – all under Roy Hodgson.

Spring practice continued for the UCLA football program Tuesday morning at Spaulding Field and for the most part head coach Bob Chesney was pleased with his team’s progress.

It marked the sixth of 14 practices leading up to the annual spring game on May 2 at the Rose Bowl.

“The defense took strides today,” said Chesney, who was hired as the Bruins’ 20th head football coach on Dec. 26, replacing DeShaun Foster (fired after an 0-3 start in 2025) and interim coach Tim Skipper. “There were a couple turnovers in there. This was our second day with the officials, it was a different group and they were throwing some flags today. We just have to understand the game we’re in. As you get further along the referees step aside, but early in the season they’re excited to do their jobs and we gave them enough to throw laundry at so we’ll go back and check it all out.”

Receiver Semaj Morgan caught a touchdown pass from quarterback Nico Iamaleava, tight end Brayden Lofton made several fine catches, Troy Leigber rushed for a touchdown, and Donavyn Pellot and Robert Stafford III had interceptions on defense as the squad is motivated to rebound from a 3-9 season (3-6 in Big Ten) — its worst since its debut season under Chip Kelly in 2018.

“Practice six is usually when it dips a little bit,” said Chesney, who led James Madison to the Sun Belt Conference championship and a berth in the College Football Playoff last season. “On defense we did not, on offense we probably slowed down just a little bit. I didn’t feel a dip from the group, which is great, but usually around now is when that starts to happen. [Practices] six, seven, eight are a little bit of a fight and then you gotta come back when you get to nine, 10 and 11. I thought they did a good job today, not a great job, but you have those days. It’s the nature of the beast. I didn’t see any steps backward from anybody, just a little bit of a lull from what they were bringing the other day. ”

One position group that has impressed Chesney since he arrived in Westwood is running back — a unit that returns a number of players.

“Everybody has their pluses and minuses, everyone has things they’re really good at and things they’re mediocre at and our job every day is taking what’s mediocre and turning it into good — and eventually great — and playing to their strengths,” Chesney said. “Each of them has their own running style. I’ve been impressed with them, they’re one of the stronger groups on this team. It’s necessary as a running back for that to be the case. You have to be durable enough, you have to keep your pad level low and keep your body healthy because there’s probably not another position out there that takes as much of a beating … you’re getting tackled by guys who are sometimes much bigger than you.”

Defensive back Scooter Jackson was not at Tuesday’s practice but Chesney expects him to be back Thursday. Offensive lineman Jordan Davis is dealing with a shoulder injury.

“He’s got range, he just doesn’t feel like he has the full strength yet … but he’s close,” Chesney said of Davis. “On Saturday it was a little worse than it is today, so he’s slowly getting better.”

Chesney praised cornerback DJ Barksdale, an All-Sun Belt selection who transferred from James Madison — a player he knows well.

“The nickel and slot corner is important in the bubble game and the screen game,” Chesney said. “You’ve got to be able to fight through some things physically. You’re also tied in a lot as the bonus in the run game and then there’s times when you’re not there and you’re playing straight man-to-man on the other team’s quickest, best receiver so the skillset you’ve got to carry, the confidence you’ve got to carry and the physicality you’ve got to carry is significant. DJ possesses all of those.”

Chesney is excited about the depth in the defensive backfield.

“Rob [Stafford] did a good job,: he said. “In the red zone he’s been really sticky in coverage and he’s done a really nice job. He’s starting to click with his playbook and understand it and that’s kind of where everyone is at this stage of the game, we’re in practice six so everything we’ve done up to this point is six days of full speed stuff. Osiris [Gilbert] made a really big play on a ball that we had trouble with Saturday. To learn and carry that over from the previous practice into the film room and actuality execute it out here was great to see. Jhase McMillan is doing a great job. We’re rotating them through, we put them in different positions to test them in fire and see who can handle all of it. They’re a little more involved in the running game now, Cover 2 things and corner pressures, blitzing off the edge, they’ve done a really nice job.”

Asked who has stood out in the trenches, Chesney cited Aiden Gobaira, Julian Armella and Riley Robell.

“What’s impressed me most about Julian is his passion for this game,” Chesney said. “He’s got to harness that the right way. I’m sure there’s moments when you play with that much emotion and passion it can tip over, but I’ve been impressed with that part. He uplifts a lot of people when he’s out there. There’s never a moment where he’s just out here and it’s not important — it’s all important to him and that’s infectious.”

Pressuring the quarterback is a defensive priority for Chesney and his staff. A year ago the Bruins tied for last in the Big Ten in pass defense, allowing opponents to complete 66% of their passes.

“On the defensive side we have to continue to take bigger steps,” he said. “Our pass rush looks good, the interior pass rush is something we have to work on. A lot of the games that we’re playing inside we’ve got to continue to fine tune things because obviously the offense knows they’re coming and the element of surprise gets defeated The defense is doing a nice job setting them up, then it’s cool watching the chess match go on between both sides.”

Chesney is known for his emphasis on special teams and the Bruins ran drills throughout Tuesday’s practice focused on that phase of the game.

“I don’t want it to be an afterthought — I want to make sure it’s involved in everything we do,” Chesney stated. “I want it to feel like a game as much as it possibly can but I also want our long snapper, our holder, our kickers and our protection guys to know that the whole team is relying on you so when we put them in those situations at the end to pin the ball, they have to know they have to hold up their end of the bargain.”

What has surprised Chesney most in his first few months in Westwood?

“The alums who come out continually and who like being around this program is something I’d hoped for,” Chesney said. “I understood that practices were maybe different and closed and not open to everybody before, but it’s open to all of our alums and to high school coaches. I’d hoped it would happen and to see it actually transpiring day to day is exciting.”

UCLA’s next practice is Thursday on Spaulding Field at Wasserman Football Center.

Less than a year on from the day Liverpool won the Premier League title, Arne Slot’s side find themselves in a position where their season rests on qualifying for the Champions League.

For Slot, perhaps his future does too. There will be no silverware and the Dutchman has already said failing to have Champions League football next season would mean this would “definitely not be an acceptable season”.

This was Liverpool’s 17th defeat of the campaign but it came after arguably one of their better performances. Until Ousmane Dembele’s 72nd-minute strike for Paris St-Germain, Liverpool battled admirably against the champions of Europe.

“It was an intense match between two teams who played really good football,” said PSG head coach Luis Enrique.

For Liverpool, there is no shame in getting knocked out by this PSG side. Luis Enrique’s side are a joy to watch and play with confidence when in possession.

But the worry for Liverpool is they have gone backwards.

When these two sides met in the Champions League last 16 last season, PSG were the better side across the two legs but they needed a penalty shootout to knock Liverpool out.

This time around, they outclassed Slot’s side in Paris and, while there were spells on Tuesday night when Liverpool threatened, the final scoreline of 4-0 across two legs was fair.

“Of course we are very disappointed because I think there were parts of the second half where you could feel ‘if we could just score now, this could become a very special night’,” said Slot.

“But the future looks very bright for this team, for this club. We have showed we can compete with the champions of Europe in our stadium. To be the dominant team, not many teams can be dominant against PSG and create as many chances as we did,” he added.

At Anfield, Liverpool’s xG was 1.94 compared with the 0.18 at the Parc des Princes last week.

So there were positives to take, but there is still plenty to be done before they can be considered serious contenders on the European stage again.

After the match, Mohamed Salah waved goodbye to the Anfield crowd after playing his last game for Liverpool in the Champions League.

Now the question is whether Slot and Liverpool will be back in the Champions League next season.